(Football news) Nottingham Forest reached the Carabao Cup semifinals after beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-3 on penalties in the quarterfinal game on Wednesday to reach this stage for the first time in over two decades. Forest keeper Dean Henderson was the hero of the match after he made a decisive save from Joe Hodge’s spot kick in the penalty shootout, after the game finished 1-1 after 90 minutes. Henderson helped his team go through to their first semi finals since they reached the League Cup final in 1992.
Willy Boly scored after 18 minutes against his former club to give Forest a much deserved lead. He converted from close range after the initial Serge Aurier shot hit the woodwork and Wolves failed to clear their lines. But after that goal, Wolves dominated as Henderson was regularly called into action to keep his side’s lead intact and made a string of close-range saves to deny Raul Jimenez and Hwang Hee-chan before the halftime break. They finally got their reward in the second half as Jimenez tapped home at the back post after substitute Matheus Cunha played an inch perfect cross across the face of goal towards the Mexico international.
Despite 66% of the possession, Julen Lopetegui’s men failed to win the game as tempers frayed at the end of normal time. Wolves had a penalty claim waved off after Matheus Nunes looked like he was tripped in the box, with the likes of Aurier, Daniel Podence, Nunes and Julen Lopetegui all getting booked for their reactions. In the shootout, misses from Neves and Hodge condemned them to defeat.
While this result provided a moment of jubilation for Forest’s fans, players and their manager, Steve Cooper felt that his side should have performed better across the 90 minutes. Forest suffered a surprise 4-1 defeat to Championship side Blackpool in the FA Cup on Saturday. After that horrible result, Cooper was happy to see his side respond well. Forest will now take on Manchester United in the semifinals of the Carabao Cup and will have to do it without goalkeeper Henderson, who is on loan from the Red Devils.
“[I am] chuffed for the supporters and players,” Cooper told BBC Radio 5 Live. “The objective of the tie was to get through. I can’t say I loved our performance, I shouldn’t be too negative and won’t be. But we have to play a lot better than we did over large spells of the game. The game was there for us to take advantage of the Wolves.”
“I think Wolves were good on the night and you have to respect that,” Cooper added. “I felt on Saturday we fell short and got knocked out so it was important not to go out of two cup competitions in a few days.”
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